Virgin Blue and Boeing have formally signed an agreement which will see the airline take up to 105 additional Boeing 737NGs. The order is comprised of a firm order for 50 737-800s, with 25 firm delivery options and a further 30 purchase rights, all of which could be converted to smaller 737-700s or larger 737-900s.
Polish company PZL Swidnik and Pilatus have signed a 10 year agreement which will see PZL assemble PC-12 fuselages and wing cells from the second half of 2011. Under the arrangement, Pilatus will continue to produce detail parts in Stans for assembly at PZL’s facilities in Lublin, southeast of Warsaw. The Swiss airframer added that
The RAAF’s C-130 Hercules transport commitment to operations in the Middle East (MEAO) has logged its 20,000th operational hour since the deployment began in February 2003. The milestone was achieved by a C-130J of 37SQN in early March during an aeromedical evacuation (AME) flight in Afghanistan. “It’s a credit not only to the aircrew, but to
Two Army C Squadron CH-47D Chinooks have returned to Afghanistan, bolstering the International Security Assistance Force’s heavy lifting capabilities for the approaching summer. The Chinooks arrived by RAAF C-17s in early and mid March and are embedded with the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade based at Kandahar Airfield, southern Afghanistan, for an eight month deployment over
Hawker Pacific and the Shanghai Airport Authority have officially opened a new joint venture fixed base operation at at Shanghai’s Hongquiao airport. The 3100sq m full service FBO operation offers a large lounge, five offices, theatre and conference facilities for customers as well as a rest and service area for crew. Initially, FBO services will
The federal government has moved to ban older “marginally noise-compliant” aircraft, such as Boeing 727 Freighters, from major airports from July 1. In accordance with the Aviation White Paper, the ban will be phased in over two stages. From July 1, hushkitted aircraft will not be permitted to operate new services from Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne,
